According to a report by the the market information service TimBukOne, there are currently only 344 listed companies on the JSE - down more than 40% from the 601 listed companies as recently as in 2001.

The number of listings have dwindled to levels last seen during the end of apartheid. In 1993, there were 305 listed companies.

The number of listed companies on the JSE. Source: Twitter.com/TimBukOne

Many smaller companies have left the bourse after takeovers and others are on their way to being delisted – including the large food company Pioneer Foods, which is being bought by Pepsico, and the storage company Metrofile. “The trend is towards delisting,” says Jean Pierre Verster, CEO of Protea Capital Management.

These delistings have not been offset by new listings – and this is largely due to the weak state of the economy.

“Companies are not growing big enough to move from private to public markets,” says Verster.

Also, the JSE itself has not been booming. Usually companies will consider a listing when they believe the share market will offer them a better valuation than private funds, says Verster.

While the JSE's all-share index gained 8% in 2019, it lost more than 11% in 2018. Also, last year’s gains were concentrated in some bits of the market, mostly in the mining sector – Impala Platinum jumped 290% – while other shares were bleeding.

Massmart (Makro and Game) lost half of its value in a single year, while Truworths dropped 40%, Shoprite lost almost a third and Mr Price fell 23%.

So far this year, the all share index has lost around 1.5% of its value and the depressed state of the local market is contributing to the lull in new listings, says Verster.